In 2025, fire departments across Missouri responded to 54,959 fire and hazmat incidents — including the Minninghaw wildfire that burned 4,762 acres in 2011.
Missouri ranks #24 in cumulative acres burned in the NIFC perimeter atlas. Hover any state to compare; click to drill in.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories cover roughly 42% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. (Latest year: 2025.)
5-year cumulative seasonality smooths out single-year noise. Mar peaks across the window; Dec dips.
230,164 incidents from 2021 through 2025 across all reporting departments.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 38,632 | |
| 2022 | 41,060 | |
| 2023 | 43,765 | |
| 2024 | 51,748 | |
| 2025 | 54,959 |
For the 7,089 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Combined NFIRS + FPA-FOD totals across the available reporting window. Click a cause to see how it plays out nationwide.
| # | Cause | Incidents | FOD vs NFIRS | Acres | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined / missing | 25,861 | 6,188 / 19,673 | 160,004 | |
| 2 | Arson / incendiarism | 14,137 | 5,778 / 8,359 | 206,953 | |
| 3 | Debris & open burning | 9,934 | 9,934 / 0 | 149,041 | |
| 4 | Equipment & vehicle use | 5,416 | 1,075 / 4,341 | 11,918 | |
| 5 | Natural (lightning) | 1,227 | 197 / 1,030 | 5,808 | |
| 6 | Other causes | 628 | 31 / 597 | 107 | |
| 7 | Smoking | 473 | 473 / 0 | 6,148 | |
| 8 | Recreation & ceremony | 458 | 458 / 0 | 3,643 | |
| 9 | Power generation / utility | 132 | 132 / 0 | 2,816 | |
| 10 | Railroad operations | 107 | 107 / 0 | 1,374 | |
| 11 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 102 | 102 / 0 | 2,117 | |
| 12 | Fireworks | 35 | 35 / 0 | 298 |
Topical groupings of NFIRS incident types — building, cooking, electrical, vehicle, and more. Each links to its national rollup.
| # | Topic | Incidents | Loss | Deaths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outdoor fires | 64,752 | $13.0M | 5 | |
| 2 | Building fires | 48,094 | $1.7B | 156 | |
| 3 | Gas leaks | 33,217 | $5.4M | 0 | |
| 4 | Wildland fires | 32,614 | $10.7M | 5 | |
| 5 | Electrical / wiring | 31,300 | $598K | 0 | |
| 6 | Rubbish / refuse | 21,454 | $4.1M | 0 | |
| 7 | Vehicle fires | 14,789 | $145.9M | 34 | |
| 8 | Cooking-related | 7,832 | $911K | 0 | |
| 9 | Arson | 4,409 | $25.2M | 5 |
Largest single-incident property losses statewide in 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 85% of Missouri's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $999,999,999 | Kansas City | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 2 | $9,999,999 | Kansas City | Building fires | Catastrophic |
| 3 | $4,500,000 | Kansas City | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $4,120,700 | LADUE | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $4,044,600 | CHESTERFIELD | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $3,600,000 | Linn Creek | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $2,000,000 | City of Belton | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $2,000,000 | Independence | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $2,000,000 | Florissant | Fire, other | Major |
| 10 | $1,500,000 | Sikeston | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare Missouri apples-to-apples to the national average.
12 largest reporting cities by population.
Top 10 counties by reported NFIRS incidents in 2025.
| # | County | Incidents | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Louis County | 8,704 | 859,229 |
| 2 | Jackson County | 8,502 | 887,231 |
| 3 | St. Louis city | 5,234 | 298,018 |
| 4 | Greene County | 2,553 | 210,752 |
| 5 | Jefferson County | 2,508 | 95,506 |
| 6 | St. Charles County | 1,919 | 313,128 |
| 7 | Jasper County | 1,333 | 103,263 |
| 8 | Franklin County | 1,246 | 58,432 |
| 9 | Boone County | 1,223 | 139,335 |
| 10 | Cass County | 1,082 | 80,609 |
Top 10 counties by NFIRS incidents per 1,000 residents (population ≥ 50,000). Surfaces signal beyond the mega-counties.
| # | County | Inc / 1k | Incidents | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jefferson County | 26.26 | 2,508 | 95,506 | |
| 2 | Franklin County | 21.32 | 1,246 | 58,432 | |
| 3 | St. Louis city | 17.56 | 5,234 | 298,018 | |
| 4 | Christian County | 14.62 | 790 | 54,038 | |
| 5 | Cass County | 13.42 | 1,082 | 80,609 | |
| 6 | Jasper County | 12.91 | 1,333 | 103,263 | |
| 7 | Greene County | 12.11 | 2,553 | 210,752 | |
| 8 | Buchanan County | 11.83 | 879 | 74,302 | |
| 9 | St. Louis County | 10.13 | 8,704 | 859,229 | |
| 10 | Jackson County | 9.58 | 8,502 | 887,231 |
By incident count in 2025.
By acres burned. Sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minninghaw | 2011 | USFS | 4,762 |
| 2 | Mud Pond | 2011 | USFS | 3,520 |
| 3 | Willie | 2020 | USFS | 2,472 |
| 4 | 23 Thorny Creek BIL RX | 2023 | NPS | 2,223 |
| 5 | Carty | 2015 | USFS | 2,145 |
| 6 | Swan Creek | 2019 | USFS | 2,119 |
| 7 | Rozell | 2018 | USFS | 2,102 |
| 8 | Devreaux | 2023 | USFS | 2,028 |
| 9 | Liberty | 2012 | USFS | 1,623 |
| 10 | Sugar | 2024 | USFS | 1,611 |
1377 perimeters and 103,639 acres recorded since 1900.
| Decade | Fires | Acres | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 6 | 115 | |
| 1990s | 24 | 1,701 | |
| 2000s | 420 | 14,137 | |
| 2010s | 564 | 47,597 | |
| 2020s | 363 | 40,089 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by decade, broken down by cause category. Each row sums to the decade's total; the bars show the share each cause contributed.
| Decade | Total fires | Share by cause |
|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9,735 | |
| 2000s | 4,623 | |
| 2010s | 8,773 | |
| 2020s | 1,379 |
FPA-FOD ignitions by month, all years on record. Distinct from NFIRS — captures unreported wildlands across rural and remote terrain. 24,510 ignitions total.
2,185 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 5-year window. Age and gender are coarse-binned for privacy.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 54 | |
| 10-19 | 50 | |
| 20-29 | 377 | |
| 30-39 | 622 | |
| 40-49 | 369 | |
| 50-59 | 389 | |
| 60-69 | 119 | |
| 70-79 | 57 | |
| 80+ | 33 |
State totals reflect incidents reported by fire departments to NFIRS for 2025. The 5-year totals span 2021 through 2025. Wildfire perimeters and decade-by-decade counts are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History service. NFIRS reporting is voluntary, so totals are a strong indicator rather than a complete census.